The Comte de Lasalle had a very colourful military career and I’m sure most readers of this blog will be familiar with his exploits. He was a "hard smoking-drinking-fighting-womanising” cavalry leader and rose through the ranks to eventually command a Division under Murat. It seems likely that he would have received a Marshal’s Baton had he survived long enough.
Lasalle is reputed to have said that “Any Hussar who is not dead by thirty is a blackguard!” but he himself lived to the age of thirty-four before an Austrian Grenadier put a musket ball between his eyes at the battle of Wagram. From what I’ve read I imagine him to have been a bit like Lord Flashheart in Blackadder.
Update: I realised that my first photo was a bit dark so I've replaced it with another one and added this close up of the detail on this figure. Amazing how much life Marcus Hinton could breath into these tiny 20mm creations!
16 comments:
A very interesting Character - The General. Great painting too IAN. Regards. KEV.
Very smart looking character. Now all your need are hundreds of Cuirassiers behind him!
Thanks Kev!
My Hobbyist - thanks for your comment, I do have 12 waiting on the painting desk so they'll have to do for now.
Very nicely done, Ian.
Wouldn't he have 100s of Hussars at his back?
Lovely figure and you have done it justice.
I rewarded my grenadier with a plate of sauerkraut.
Archduke - not sure if that's a reward or punishment?
Nor was the grenadier.
Lovely figure, wonder how Lassalle would have performed at Waterloo.
Paul
Interesting - possibly better with the cavalry than Ney?
Only if he brought up artillery to break the squares. Then again it may be that the artillery had shot off its ammunition, leaving the cavalry with no support, though Ney did charge thinking the Allies were retreating and the moment had come.
Ah, Antoine Charles, one of me faves (as you can tell from the 'signature' picture that I chose).
One of my favourite stories, which is illustrated graphically in Hourtoulle's marvellous 'Soldiers and Uniforms of Napoleonic Wars', is of him insisting that his 'infernal brigade' remain under fire at Golymin as they had retreated during a charge against Russian guns.
Another is his capture of Stettin by stealth, making the defenders think that he was at the head of a much larger formation!
He was reportedly a dedicated family man. Within the 'expected' dalliancing of a light cavalry officer of the day!
There is a balance between risk and reward in chargingguns. In our recent Waterloo game. a unit of French hussars charged two batteries of British horse artillery and ,mtaking the fire of a Dutch battalion and the two guns was reduced from 12 to four figures , but still took the guns, the gunners ran to a square , but the guns were taken. In real life the willingness of units to sacrifice lives in order to get the next unit through the gap created in good order could be crucial, so one can well understand that Lasalle was not going to have them baulk at the casualties they might take.
Now I see why Roy is at home with a Russian army.
Yes, but I see Roy more as a Kutosov than a Lasalle having played him a few times!
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